Griffith Club Microscope

Designed and built by Ezra H. Griffith of Rochester, New York, this compound monocular brass microscope is reviewed in Gerard Turner's book The Great Age of the Microscope. Griffith, who was elected a fellow in the Royal Microscopical Society in 1883, termed the microscope a "multum in parvo" instrument.

Although the microscope illustrated above has been rendered with a brass texture, the original is plated with shiny nickel. The mahogany box used to store the microscope also serves as a base with three modes of erecting the microscope for observation of specimens. Also illustrated on the storage box is a turntable that serves as a secondary base and stage assembly for the microscope. The body tube is attached to a short limb, which is in turn attached via a movable joint and threaded shaft to the storage box. A clamping screw is used to adjust the microscope inclination. Attached to the limb is a movable stage and concave mirror that are used to secure and illuminate specimens. Focusing is accomplished by a large knurled knob with a spiral groove that engages a pin on a bar fixed to the stage.